Aug 2, 2010

I invited the JW Marriott's executive chef, Andrew Voss, to a friend's parent's 35th wedding anniversary barbecue in their home in Greenville, Michigan, around thirty minutes north of Grand Rapids. Chef Andrew is a newbie when it comes to Filipino get together's but I was very confident that this experience would be an eye opener to the world of Filipino cuisine and Filipino style summer party.

To say that Mama Enya, as her kids call her dearly, is a good cook is an understatement. Petite in stature with a constant smile in her face, she whips out dishes in her home kitchen more fitting a hotel banquet chef. With the help of her kids and close friends, they started the cooking routine on Friday evening for the feast on Saturday afternoon. They cut vegetables, prepped ingredients, marinated, washed, grilled, sauteed, baked and deep fried every possible living thing to perfection. By the time we arrived at their house at 5PM (two hours late which is okay by Filipino standards), the kitchen was spotless but food items just kept magically appearing out of nowhere and landing in front of us. Chef Andrew, welcome to the Filipino style food gathering.

After gorging ourselves for two hours, and when we thought there was nothing left to taste, the modern ice crusher came out along with an array of fruits, beans and flan for the piece de resistance, halo-halo! By then, even the crushed ice was tasty, despite the bloating sensation chef Andrew and I shared. Wow, was it a delicious culinary affair! And you know what, instead of going out afterwards, chef Andrew and I stayed home, fully content that we found culinary nirvana.

Oh yes, I forgot to mention, Mama Enya also served American meatballs, pasta salad, Bosnian bread and other non-Filipino dishes. Now that's what I call a feast!

Tahong (mussels)

Caldereta (beef stew with vegetables)

Hipon (shrimp in tomato sauce and 7-up)

Pancit (Chinese-Filipino style noodles)

Manok (filipino style bbq)

Lumpia (fried pork egg rolls)

Sinigang na baboy (pork sour soup - my favorite soup)

Filipino Spaghetti (cooked with banana ketchupand tomato paste)

Pancit Canton (Cantonese style noodles)

Vegetables in a vinegar marinade

BBQ Chicken

Pork bbq on a stick and bbq Ribs (classic street food in the Philippines)